


On Fire

by Lady Divine (fhartz91)



Series: Outside Edge [46]
Category: Glee
Genre: Alternate Universe, Blaine Friendly, Boyfriends, Established Relationship, Fluff, Humor, Ice Skating, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-08 01:08:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15919860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fhartz91/pseuds/Lady%20Divine
Summary: After a long day of judging, Kurt and Sebastian are willing to do anything to break free ...... even throw a good friend under the bus.





	On Fire

_“Next up – Trisha Bloomington!”_

Modest applause rings out around the bleachers as an adorable girl in a sparkly red dress makes her way to center ice, her gleaming white skates boxy at the end of her thin, hose-covered legs. She smiles proudly, arms held out straight, and slides to a stop. She poses, her toe pick stuck in the ice, her hip jutted out, her hands at her waist. She looks wobbly, a little nervous, but she doesn’t let that get her down. After too long a pause that seems to precede all these performances, the music begins to play, and Trisha bunny hops away in the hopes of snagging first place.

_This girl is on fire!_

Her performance only lasts two minutes, but to Sebastian, it’s a lifetime.

“Oh God,” he mutters, head dropping to his hands. “Kill me now.”

“Be nice,” Kurt says, circling Trisha’s marks on his scoring sheet. “She’s only six.”

“I don’t blame _her_ ,” Sebastian says, circling two threes and a four for Trisha’s required elements. “I really don’t. I blame the lazy ass coaches who …”

“Shhh!” Kurt slaps a hand over his boyfriend’s mouth just as one of the lazy ass coaches in question strolls by, peeking over their shoulders at the scoring sheets in front of them. Kurt nods and smiles, tightening his grip as Sebastian continues on with his tirade undeterred.

“Now, now, don’t worry,” Kurt says, slightly louder than necessary to assuage the coaches shooting dirty looks their way. “Each of these skaters are going to receive a fair score on their performance.”

“Come on, Kurt! We’ve been here for _hours_!”

“We volunteered!”

“ _You_ volunteered us! I’ve never done this before! I didn’t know what I was in for! You’re getting back at me for date night, aren’t you? I thought shoving me in a giant snowman costume would have made us even, but I guess not.” Sebastian shakes his head sadly, the poster boy for defeat. “You’ve got your skates with you, don’t you?”

“Yeah?”

“Then here.” Sebastian tugs down his collar and taps the skin of his neck with his index finger. “Toe pick. Go straight for the jugular.”

“Sebastian!”

“Just make it quick. I don’t want to send any of these kids into therapy.”

“Pfft. And you say _I’m_ a drama queen.” Kurt pops his head up, searching the crowd clustered in front of the rink’s double doors. He’s been keeping an eye peeled for the past hour. It’s difficult to spot any one person with the amount of people gathered around the edge of the rink, eager to see their kids perform, then get their asses out as quickly as possible. Kurt can’t blame them. Every competition they host runs between fifteen minutes to an hour behind schedule without exception. It’s worse for the parents whose kids compete in more than one event. Depending on the category, they can be spread hours apart.

Kurt can tell the veteran parents from the newbies. The veterans are the ones dressed in sweats and sneakers instead of their Sunday best, wrapped in three layers of blankets, and lugging around suitcases the size of a mini fridge, filled to bursting with everything from hairspray to spare costumes, ready to head off any catastrophe.  

Between performances, the crowd shifts, and Kurt sees Blaine walk in. He catches Kurt’s eye and waves, his face lighting up immediately the way it always does when he sees his best friend. Kurt smiles as Blaine rushes over, a cold knot of guilt tying his stomach for what he’s about to do to him.

“Besides, while you were busy complaining, I called in reinforcements.”

“What? Oh …” Sebastian groans when he sees Blaine gallop over. “So is Mr. Wonderful going to join us?”

“No. He’s going to replace us. Hey!” Kurt leaps out of his seat and wraps his arms around Blaine, hugging him tight. “Thank _God_ you’re here!”

“How are you guys holding up?” Blaine’s gaze passes over Kurt to Sebastian, who seems to have melted into the judges’ table.

“Not good, I’m afraid. I hate to do this to you, but can you tag us out? I’m beginning to see double, and I’m pretty sure Sebastian’s brains have started leaking out his ears.” Kurt moves behind Sebastian and begins rubbing his shoulders. Sebastian moans pitifully. “You won’t be alone. Chandler got here before you. He’ll be scoring from the bleachers.” Kurt points over the heads on their right to where Chandler is setting up a small folding table in an area roped off from spectators and parents.

“Sure, sure. No problem,” Blaine says, taking Kurt’s seat at the table. “Anything to help out as part of _Team Ice-plex_.” (That remark, and the giddiness in Blaine’s tone, makes Sebastian moan louder, and Kurt smacks him on the shoulder to shut him up. Blaine has never been part of a team. At his old ice rink, he pretty much kept to himself – more his parents’ doing than his own. But he’s thrilled to be a part of theirs. He says that being part of something special makes him feel special. Personally, Sebastian prefers being a team of one. Well, two, as long as he has Kurt. But if he never judges another competition, he’ll count his blessings.) “Just tell me what I have to do.”

“It’s really no big deal,” Kurt explains. “Each performer has their own sheet. It lists the elements they’re required to perform, and you score them from one to four. Four means it was perfect. One means at least they tried. They get a strike if they skip it entirely. The only group left is pre-alpha tots, so it shouldn’t be that hard. They only need to perform about five elements each. Here, I’ll show you …”

_“Next up – Pamela Moebs!”_

Kurt and Blaine both look up as the next skater steps on the ice. She beams at the audience, her smile wider than she is tall, her teeth glowing white within a frame of dark, crimson lips. She cocks her right hip, stretches her arms over her head, and waits for her music to start.

_This girl is on fire!_

Blaine perks up, smiling almost as wide as Pamela. Sebastian pulls the collar of his jacket up to his ears and mumbles incoherently.

“I love this song!” Blaine says as Kurt shows him how to mark off the scoring sheet. Bunny hops? Perfect. Forward swivels? Also perfect. Crossovers? Close. A three.

“That’s good,” Sebastian says, hastily finishing up his own sheet, then grabbing his gear bag, “because they’re _all_ doing it.”

“What?” Blaine looks up as the song comes to an abrupt end. Pamela poses triumphantly on the ice as her parents scream like maniacs from the sidelines, and Blaine takes a good look at her. She’s dressed in a fire-themed costume, her face done up in red eyeshadow and lipstick similar to the girl before her. As Pamela turns to make her exit, Blaine can see past her to the next girl waiting in the wings. She, too, is wearing a red dress with flames, red eyeshadow, and bright red lipstick. “What do you mean _they’re all doing it_?”

“To save money on music licensing, the coaches from the Youngstown Ice Arena pick one song for their pre-alpha tots and they all skate to it.”

_“Next up – Morgan Conner-Grieves!”_

Same as with Pamela, and Trisha before her, Morgan slides to a stop, strikes an empowering pose, and then her music starts.

_This girl is on fire!_

Sebastian points an index finger skyward. “This year it’s this one.”

“How many pre-alpha tots are there?” Blaine asks, rushing to catch up with his scoring sheet while keeping one eye on his retreating friends.

“A … a couple,” Kurt says sheepishly as Sebastian pulls him away.

“How many’s a couple?”

“Fifty-two,” Sebastian replies unapologetically.

“Fifty-two!” Blaine squeaks, nearly losing his pen. Fifty-two skaters performing for two minutes each … that means he’s going to hear the same snippet of that song for the next hour and forty-four minutes! Oh, wait. Didn’t Kurt’s text say something about them running behind!? “How many have performed already?” _Say twenty_ , Blaine begs silently. _Please say they’re almost halfway through!_

“Uh … seven, I think?”

Blaine’s shoulders fall, and Sebastian hears Kurt gasp as his conscience catches up with him. Sebastian is proud of Kurt for trying, at least, but he’s too compassionate a human being to dump and run on anyone, especially not Blaine.

So Sebastian steps up.

He pushes Kurt behind him lest Blaine’s puppy dog eyes manage to make his sympathetic boyfriend change his mind. Sebastian might feel bad, too, if his ears weren’t beginning to bleed. “Bye, Blaine.”

“Thank you so much for this!” Kurt says, but since he hasn’t moved more than half a foot during this whole conversation, Sebastian breaks down and lifts his reluctant boyfriend off his feet. “I don’t know how we’ll replay you! Call us when you’re done, we’ll go out to dinner. Bye!”

_This girl is on fire!_

“And thank you,” Sebastian calls to a distracted Blaine with Kurt wriggling over his shoulder, “for being a dedicated member of Team Ice-plex.”


End file.
